Miga – A Coruña, Galicia

Date of visit: Tuesday, September 21, 2016

Chef and owner Adrián Felipez opened Restaurante Miga on Praza de España, right in the middle of A Coruña, in April of 2016. By the time I visited in September, Miga had earned a reputation as a foodie destination in A Coruña serving innovative farm to table fare in comfortable yet elegant surroundings. Miga sources its produce from within a 35 kilometer radius (approximately), and even has an arrangement with a local farmer in the village of Baldaio to purchase all the eggs produced by a Galician breed of hen, that are only fed a diet of turnip greens and red millet, for use in the restaurant. Another unique aspect is that Miga is the only restaurant in Coruña, and Galicia for that matter, with a kamado, an egg shaped ceramic Japanese wood or charcoal burning oven (Miga uses wood) that imparts a light smoky flavor to the items cooked within.

Everything on the menu (pictured below) sounded wonderful. I opted for the tasting menu option called the “Paseo por Miga” (Stroll around Miga), 5 salado (savory) and 2 dulce (sweet) dishes. Add in a wine pairing option, and a lovely afternoon was set into motion.

A nice glass of cava (Llopart Integral, a Spanish sparkling brut nature wine from the Penedès wine region near Barcelona), along with a basket of bread featuring well-known delicious Galician breads pan de Carballo and pan de Carral (the darker of the 2) arrived at the table first. Bonito (tuna) was in season at the time of my visit so it was featured in several courses beginning with the first course, an ahilda de bonito curado en agua de mar (skewer of tuna cured in sea water) with pipara basque (spicy basque peppers). The fish was lovely and the peppers a surprise in their level of spiciness!

Miga has several seating options to accommodate a variety of dining experiences. Two adjoining dining rooms in the back of the restaurant with a few larger tables for more intimate dining (or for a group), outdoor patio seating on the Plaza de España for those wanting to enjoy a casual experience with the ambiance of the city, and the front of the restaurant where casual two and four person high tops enjoy an excellent view of the kitchen. I opted for the view of the kitchen and enjoyed watching Chef Felipez and his staff at work creating these beautiful dishes.

Chef Adirán Felipez carefully crafting in Miga’s open kitchen.

The second course was another take on bonito (tuna) this time asado (roasted – in the kamado oven) with ponzu sauce, tomato, chives, cilantro, green onion, and dried corn. I nearly considered cancelling the next 3 courses to just repeat this one, it was so beautifully flavored.

Roasted bonito looked and tasted amazing!

Chef Felipez working with the kamado, a Japanese wood burning oven that imparts a subtle smoky flavor to whatever is cooked within.

The third course of pimiento rojo a la brasa (roasted red peppers) with caviar, potato chips, and local Baldaio chicken egg yolk, also came out of the kamado. This was an interesting dish where the subtly smoky red pepper was cut into thin strips and played like pasta with the yolk making a creamy sauce when twirled all together with the caviar. The waiter advised me to get ready to “mojar mucho pan” (dip a lot of bread) into this dish to sop up all of the goodness. This lovely Madai Godello Sobre Lías from Bierzo paired very nicely with this course and the next.

This beautiful merluza de pincho (line caught hake fish) over a pil pil suave (garlic mayonnaise) with judias tiernas (green beans) was another favorite of the day. The fish was perfectly prepared and so delicious with the green beans fresh from Chef Felipez’ garden.

The final savory course was also from the kamado. Award winning Viña Peón by Adega O Canceliño, a Mencia Garnacha from the Ribeira Sacra wine region, was a beautiful red wine to accompany the pork ribs. I feel very fortunate to have sampled this wine again when I visited Eclectic Restaurant a few days later.

Costillas de cerdo confitadas y a la brasa (Grilled confit pork ribs – above right) were so perfectly cooked they slid right off the bone. Topped with an extremely tasty combination of pisto de cebolla y tomate (onion and tomato ratatouille), smoked toasted cornbread crumbs, and fresh herbs (cilantro, mint, basil, chives and scallions), this dish was delightfully fresh and full of flavor.

One more wine to accompany dessert? Sure, why not! Sitta Dulce Nana is a sweet 100% Albariño wine from Attis Bodega in the Rias Baixas wine region.

The first dessert of piña a la brasa (grilled pineapple, also from the kamado) with helado de coco (coconut ice cream) was an absolute revelation. The combination of the acidic pineapple, smoky from the kamado, smooth ice cream studded with chunks of chewy coconut, accented by a fresh hit of yerbabuena (spearmint) chiffonade was just perfect together.

The second dessert was the accurately named tarta fea de zanahoria (ugly carrot cake) with helado de yogurth (with yogurt ice cream). It’s not very pretty, but this deconstructed take on carrot cake was deeply satisfying with sweet creamy carrots and crunchy cookie crumble, and a little bit surprising too with tangy bits of candied ginger.

The word miga refers to the crumb of the bread. When something has mucha miga it means that there is a lot below the surface. There is a nice double meaning here with the restaurant’s name, as there certainly is a lot going on at Miga: the sourcing of excellent local ingredients, careful preparation of said ingredients, a unique Japanese oven, and friendly, welcoming service. 
Miga
Praza de España 7, A Coruña, Galicia (map)
+34 881 92 48 82

Website: www.migacoruna.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/migacoruna
Instagram: www.instagram.com/migacoruna